Choices
by Shire hobbit
Summary: Episode tag to "Muscle Car & Paper Clips" with a little nod/spoiler to "MacGyver & MacGyver." Mac and Jack discuss the fact that Jack can't protect everyone all the time.


_A/N: Wow, it looks like it has been almost seven years since I have posted anything on here. I've written a few original stories over those years, but haven't written much in a while. On top of that, this is my first MacGyver (reboot) story. I don't typically do episode tags, but this has been on my mind since the episode aired back in September. Now that the season is over, I tied in a little spoiler for the finale (unexpectedly – the story just kind of took over and did that on its own). Anyways, sorry if my writing is a little rusty, but I hope you enjoy._

Choices

Jack strolled into the Phoenix Foundation with a chip on his shoulder. After their last mission, he had been looking forward to a couple of days of nothing but rest and relaxation, and of course, everyone else got to enjoy their time off, but for some reason Matty had called him into the office.

"Alright, what's this all about?" Jack asked as he stepped into her office. "Can we make this quick? I've got plans that don't involve being here."

"Your couch and tv are going to have to wait," Matty rolled her eyes, her voice held that no-nonsense tone. "I called you in because you need to know you have a fire to put out."

"What do you mean?" Jack suddenly grew a little wary. He had already been reprimanded for his attitude on their last job, but he didn't care. He knew the others had thought he was being too over-protective, but if he hadn't been, Riley could have been lost. Once his suspicions proved to be true, no one had been upset about the action he had taken. Riley had needed help, and Jack was the only one that had been able to get to her. He grew a little irritated at the thought that Matty might have called him in just to have him listen to another lecture.

"Go talk to your boy, Jack," Matty ordered him, then added as an afterthought. "And if you haven't already, I think you have some things to talk about involving Cage."

"W-Why, what's wrong?" Jack grew nervous again. What was wrong with MacGyver? He hadn't seemed any different lately; sure, he had seemed a bit distant, but Jack just assumed Mac was busy with his search for his dad, or he was working on something else and he would tell Jack about it when he was ready. But what would that have to do with Cage?

"That's for you two to work out," Matty snapped, pointing toward the door. "Go talk to him."

* * *

"Come on, Mac, open up," Jack shouted as he banged his fist on the door to Mac's house. He had been knocking for a few minutes and had been rewarded with nothing but silence. He had a key, but given that there was an apparent problem, the last thing he wanted to do was invade his friend's privacy. If Mac didn't want him around, Jack was at least going to make him acknowledge him and say so.

"Mac!" Jack yelled again, banging louder and more persistently. "Come on, man."

"Jack?" Mac's voice came from behind him. Jack turned and noticed that his friend was wearing a sweaty t-shirt and shorts, as well as breathing a little heavily. He had clearly been out for a run. "What's going on?" He paused for a moment, "And why are you knocking?"

"What-What's going on?" Jack repeated, caught at a loss for words. He didn't want to admit that Matty had told him there was a problem, but he hadn't thought about what he was going to say.

"You don't have to stand out here and shout," Mac said matter-of-factly, as he pulled out a key and opened the door. "You have a key, just let yourself in."

Jack followed him into the apartment, still at a loss for words, which was something that never happened. Mac was acting so . . . normal. How would he have ever known there was a problem if Matty hadn't clued him in? Sure, Jack was good at reading Mac, but the kid wasn't giving him any good reading material at the moment.

"What's the matter with you?" Mac's voice broke through Jack's thoughts. He realized he was still standing in the doorway, while Mac had apparently had the time to get himself a glass of water.

"Me? Oh, nothing's wrong with _me_ ," Jack finally said, his voice dripping with sarcasm. Mac wasn't giving him anything to read, so Jack decided to throw out a hint. It worked; MacGyver paused, the glass halfway to his mouth.

"Okay, now I know something's wrong," Mac gave Jack a searching look. "What is it?"

"I heard . . ." Jack paused; Matty hadn't told him exactly what the problem was, but she had mentioned Cage, so he threw out a guess. "I heard you want Cage to be your new partner instead of me." Mac froze, shock adorning his face as if someone had tried to tell him scientific facts were actually fairy tales, and Jack felt he had hit the nail on the head. "Come on, man," Jack continued. "I thought you said we were good."

"We are," Mac replied, shock and confusion still written on his face. "I never-"

"I mean, my job is to protect you while you do your thing," Jack interrupted, starting to ramble. "Cage, she's good, but I don't trust her to watch your back like I do. I need to be there, I need to know you're safe. We're brothers, aren't we? Come on, you just gonna throw that away?" He was starting to get upset. "You couldn't talk to me about this? You _said_ we were good-"

"Stop, Jack," MacGyver finally broke in. "We are. I never said anything about wanting Cage to replace you. What I _said_ was that when Riley goes with us into the field, we might want to make sure _both of you_ are there for backup."

"Why, you think I can't handle it?" Jack asked defensively.

"I didn't say that," Mac tried to reason with him. "This is why I didn't say anything to you." He sighed, not wanting to have this conversation. "Look, Matty asked me if I thought there would be any more problems in the future regarding Riley being in the field; she just wanted to make sure you wouldn't freak out again."

"So, if you didn't say I couldn't handle it, what are you saying then?" Jack knew his friend would never betray him behind his back, but it wasn't sounding too good to him.

"What I just said, Jack, that when Riley goes with us, we might need an extra person," Mac tried to explain. "Or at least have Cage available so she wouldn't have to leave an assignment like she did the other night." Jack didn't say anything, just gestured for MacGyver to continue, but Mac knew he wasn't explaining it very well. "Look, the thing is, Jack, you can't be in two places at once. If Riley needs your help, then by all means, help Riley, I have more training for taking care of myself in the field . . . don't tell her I said that, though. But if I'm in a situation where I need backup, too, and Cage isn't already there, maybe she should be. I was just suggesting she be a bigger part of the team, but only because I thought she could help you a little, I . . ." Mac sighed, frustrated that Jack would question his intentions. "I just didn't want you to have to choose who you're going to be there for." Jack thought for a moment, then nodded as he accepted Mac's explanation.

"I'm all for having more help on the team, but that can't be all she wanted us to talk about? I mean, I'm glad to be in the loop, but that's hardly a problem. Why did Matty tell me there was a problem that I needed to sort out with you?" Jack was again confused as to what Matty had found important enough to call him into the office and tell him about instead of just telling him over the phone.

"She didn't tell you?" Mac asked, surprised.

"All she really said was that I had a fire to put out and it involved you," Jack shrugged and shook his head.

"Well, she mentioned something to me about some tests, I don't know, special training or something, that Oversight wanted you and I to do," Mac added. "But she didn't say what, just that she needed to talk to you about it first."

"I wonder what that means," Jack said thoughtfully. "She didn't say anything about that to me."

"I don't know," Mac replied, unable to relate anything she had said to Jack to what she had said to him. "Maybe they don't know what kind of tests, yet."

* * *

Matty sighed when she felt her phone vibrate, already knowing who it was. There were a few parts of this job she didn't like.

"It's done," she said in place of a greeting. "I don't believe your test was necessary, but I got them to talk. Mac and Jack are fine, as I told you they would be." She knew she might be overstepping her bounds by giving Oversight a little lip, but she really thought he was over-reacting.

"Sometimes the smallest thing can spark a change of heart," Oversight responded cautiously. "My partner was dedicated and he turned on me. Dalton threatened to hurt MacGyver, and to me, that had to be looked into."

"It was said in the heat of the moment," Matty replied matter-of-factly. "If you knew this team at all, you would know that that is something Jack would never actually do."

"My partner used to say he would always be there for me," Oversight said, his voice flat, but Matty could hear the warning. "He said it until the day he turned on me."

"Dalton is nothing like Walsh," Matty said in defense of her team. "He will never do anything to hurt Mac; you need to trust him."

"Just keep an eye on them," Oversight ordered. "If anything appears to be changing, I need to know." With that statement, he ended the call.

"It won't," Matty said sarcastically as she set her phone down and put her head in her hands. Spying on her team for her boss should not be a part of her job description, but somehow, it was. He didn't know them the way she did, didn't even know his son the way he thought he did. She wished she could change that, but what could she do? Yes, this was one part of the job she really didn't like at all.

The End


End file.
